I like them mainly because they last so long. I leave lights on in my house when I am not at home and these bulbs last at least a year when left on 24/7. It does take them a few minutes to warm up to their maximum brightness.

I bought a 6 pack of 60w bulbs a couple of years ago and the light was dim and cast a strange hue. From reading some of these posts I may give them another shot.

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A couple of ours from a few years back were a bit dull and took a while to become bright. Whilst they're still not instantly bright or give off a pure white light like a halogen they have definitely got better.

Now that old lights can't be bought in the UK anymore does this mean kids brought up today aren't going to recognise the old idea bulb graphic in cartoons?

Early CFL's tended to start up quite dim before reaching full brightness in about 3-4 minutes, which was quite annoying to say the least. Fortunately, today's CFL's reach full brightness in about 30 seconds, and best of all the color temperature of the light from newer CFL's are quite a bit "warmer" so you don't have the garish light like you get from florescent tubes.

I uses CFL in most of my light right now in my apartment. and it is not for energy savings but for more light. can put a 100 watt equivalent in a 40-60 watt socket. Net result is more light A LOT more light. That and I HATE changing light bulbs. I had to replace my first CFL in 3 years a few weeks ago. That bulb had been throw my collage rented house, my college apartment and 1 year at my current one. Not to shabby for 3 years of 12 hours a day of running.

No one can say that my apartment is darker because of CFL.

Now what I do need to find is a good halogen torch amp. Any suggestions would be greatly appropriated. I do not care about the energy usage if you can not tell from above. I like light and LOTS of it.

Staff Member

Do they have a cool, bluish-white color or are they closer to an incandescent?

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They give out a warm light and are not harsh like a fluorescent tube.

Our electric company, the local council and one of the government agencies have each sent us a couple of samples in the last year, which is convenient with our first batch failing. I had to buy one with a screw fitting a couple of weeks ago and it was only £0.39, so it hasn't cost a lot to upgrade the old ones.

You can get them now that work with dimmer switches, although one of the ones that we have does flicker from time to time on certain brightnesses. They cost more but should still work out cheaper than the old type.

I like them. They give off a brighter, whiter light. Plus, they last a lot longer. We have some lights outside on our house, and regular light bulbs go out every few months or so, but we put some CFLs in there and they've been going strong for almost a year.

The manufacturers are getting better about the size, too. In previous years, anything above a 60-watt equivalent was too big to fit into a lot of appliances that required bulbs (enclosed porch lanterns, small lamps, recessed lighting). I can now get a 100-watt equivalent that fits anywhere a 60-watt incandescent could, that provides ~35% more light at 1/3 the electricity usage of an incandescent. Not having to replace them every 4 to 6 months is also very nice.

My unfinished basement is lit with a series of 100/125's. The fixtures are open, so there's no worry about oversize bulbs, and they pump out serious light. The 125s put out twice the light of a 60-watt incandescent for half the electricity cost.

There are a couple of places I still use incandescents, mainly in closets or other places where I only need light for a moment or two. CFL bulbs that are turned on for very short periods of time tend to "burn out" quicker, lasting only 1.5 to 3 years rather than the usual rate of 5-7.

I could probably get into LED lighting, too, since it's mercury-free and instant-on. But current LED technology is prohibitively expensive at any brightness level above, say, accent lighting. I have the feeling that eventually LED will become competitive, though.

I live in Kentucky, and after the ice storm we had recently, I've been thinking about installing a small solar-panel system, powerful enough to run two or three of these CFLs and keep a cell phone charged during an extended power outage.

for what they are they don't last that long. this is more of an issue that florescent bulbs don't like lots of cycles. they save power but add to the landfill.
We should see cost effective LEDS as household lights soon far better power savings and a good color.
3 watt led puts out a lot of light.

When I saw the subject line, I thought we were going to be talking about LED light bulbs

What I've found with CFL's is that quality varies GREATLY. There are still some being sold out there that take a second or two to turn on, flicker a bit, are VERY dim for the first minute or two, have funny colored light, ...

There are also bulbs that turn on instantly, warm up very quickly, and are virtually indistinguishable from traditional incandescent bulbs. These bulbs are, of course, generally a bit costlier than the "poor" bulbs.

Philips CFL bulbs seem to be very good. I have a bunch of globe bulbs in my bathrooms and other than the first 30 seconds of dimness, you couldn't tell that they are CFL's unless you looked closely.

What I also find with CFL's is that the brightness curve is a bit exaggerated. For the first couple weeks the bulb is SUPER SUPER bright, then the brightness seems to temper a bit and for a year or two it's pretty much "normal" and you think nothing of it. Then after a few years you start to think "Hmm, this isn't as bright as it once was" and at some point the bulb either fails or you decide it's time to replace it because it's just not as bright as you want.

What I also find with CFL's is that the brightness curve is a bit exaggerated. For the first couple weeks the bulb is SUPER SUPER bright, then the brightness seems to temper a bit and for a year or two it's pretty much "normal" and you think nothing of it. Then after a few years you start to think "Hmm, this isn't as bright as it once was" and at some point the bulb either fails or you decide it's time to replace it because it's just not as bright as you want.

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that is called age, my friend

i like the new ones, especially the fact that they don't suffer surges and irregular current that much. in my apt the half-life of classic bulbs was very short especially in some periods. the new one just keep going.

i like brightly lit rooms, so i tend to use the brighter ones (but my favourites remain halogens)

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